Sunday, 12 January 2014

Rayaru in Rangoli

Rangoli is found in front of all Hindu households in India and whichever State or region you go, you can see a variety of rangoli in front of houses, temples, religious institutions such as mathas and Veda Patashalas, Kalyana Mantapas and even in front of venues hosting social and religious events.
Rangoli is drawn on all auspicious occasions such as marriages, Gruhapravesha and Nishchitarta (engagement ceremony).
The tradition of drawing on the floor or/and in front of houses is called Rangoli. Therefore, it is also called floor art and it is an integral part of an Indian household. Rangoli is called by different names in different regions.
There can be innumerable designs and there are designs for every occasions. In earlier days, Rangoli was created with Hittu which attracted sparrows. Now, they are drawn with white chalk powder and on occasions colours are used.
One of the leading haridasas of Karnataka, Jagannatha Dasa of Manvi was well-known as Rangoli Dasa as he was an expert at this art. He would draw the image of Hari and other Gods as he sang about them and their glories.
We find different Rangoli designs in front of Raghavendra Swamy Mathas.
The above image of a Rangoli drawing is from the Raghavendra Swamy Temple in Jayanagar 4th Block. We saw that a woman had drawn a beautiful Rangoli of Rayaru in front of the Tulasi Katte or platform where Tulasi was planted.
The Rangoli shows Rayaru holding the Veena, his favourite musical instrument. Rayaru, like his father Thomanna Bhat, and his grandfather, Kanakachala Bhatta, was an expert Veena player. Both hios grandfather and father were at the court of the Vijayanagar Emperor.
We decided to take a photograph of the Rangoli drawing before it disappeared.